𝒴

With a victory in Santalune under her belt, Serena turned her sights onto her next destination— Cyllage City, and its Gym Leader, Grant. Collecting the Cliff Badge was the next major step in her journey, and the last thing she'd need to do before she and Ash could reunite. Suffice it to say, excitement was high!

Or, it was, one 8-hour bus ride and 4-hour trek ago.

"Stupid bus system, stupid bus ticket." At the entrance of a well-walked cave, Serena's tired, grumbling voice rang out, followed by the pained whine of her partner, Fennekin. "Oh, the bus system doesn't connect to Cyllage City— Then why did you sell me a ticket that had it as the destination!"

"Fenn! Fenn..."

Serena's insistence on using the bus to get from city to city had finally come back to bite her. The route she'd taken dropped her off well before Cyllage City, on the other side of the mountains. Only now was she arriving at the city proper, after a blind trek through Connecting Caves.

"This was so much easier when I was traveling with the others. At least Clemont could plot— Whoa!" Serena turned, stumbling out from the cave entrance and into bright sunlight. Blinded, she blinked until her vision returned. "I think— we're— here!"

From a perch high up in the cliffs, Serena gazed down upon Cyllage City, a wide grin growing on her face. The seaside town was just as pretty as she had remembered it! She could spot the pristine stone brickwork, the beautiful sandy beach, and at least three boutiques she'd visited the last time they were there!

That thought brought another.

"The last time I was here..." Serena's gaze turned from the city itself, to something high above it— The entrance to the Cyllage Gym. It stood on a cliff that overlooked the city, opposite from where Serena and Fennekin stood now. For a moment, the idea of walking all that way filled her with dread, before it all drained away. A new feeling took its place, as Serena grinned.

That new feeling, it was excitement.

𝒴

"Fen! Nekin! Nenene— Fennekin!" Fennekin spoke with leaps and bounds, miming out motions and affecting moves with a gusto befitting an actress. Serena couldn't but giggle at that, as she watched her partner walk circles around her.

The two were currently trekking their way through Cyllage City, looking for the local Pokémon center and a place to settle down. While the excitement was high for the both of them, it seemed doubly so for Fennekin.

"Gosh, someone can't wait! The win against Viola got you that ready to go again, huh?" Serena grinned. She had worried that her partner wouldn't take to battling like she had, but it seemed like with most things, their hearts were aligned. Well, mostly aligned. "I'd hold your horses this time, Fennekin. We had the type advantage last time. Now we're at a disadvantage."

Serena dug out her journal to double-check herself. Right as she remembered, Fire beat Bug and Rock beat Fire. They'd have to work twice as hard to make up the difference. Four times as hard, even.

"Fenn! Fennekin, kin— Fenn!" Fennekin wasn't convinced. It seemed to Serena she was claiming she could beat Grant single-handedly.

That confidence put a grin on her face.

"I like the energy! Still, you haven't seen Grant in action yet. He's no pushover, that's for sure." Granted, Ash had pushed him over quite handily, but that was Ash. They were going to be scraping for every advantage they could get. "If only I could show you what Grant can do..."

Serena paused, her gaze caught on the sight of the gym entrance in the distance.

"Maybe, I can!"

𝒴

Serena paused as she entered the gym, taking just a moment to re-acclimatize to the sheer size of the space she was in. The ginormous rock climbing wall towered over her, its precarious drops and steep sides almost overwhelming to look at. She was glad she wouldn't have to be climbing it today.

No, rather than challenge the gym, today Serena intended to observe it— To give Fennekin a taste of the battle they'd be facing and to remind herself of the same. By the sounds of combat coming from overhead, it seemed she was just in time.

"Come on, Fennekin!" With a yip from her partner, Serena jetted off to the elevator, ascending up to the battlefield only a few minutes after she arrived. When the doors opened, Serena burst through and called aloud, "We're here!"

She called that aloud, with the Gym Leader, his challenger, and a referee standing right in front of her. Both trainers turned and stared at their sudden guest, while Serena realized the mistake of her eagerness.

"I, uh, um, hi?" Her excitement turned to shame almost instantly, as she stepped back and tried to make herself look as small as possible. Unfortunately, her excited, chittering partner just made her presence even more obvious.

Her face was probably as red as her jacket was now. It was no matter, she'd pushed through regardless!

...As long as her embarrassment didn't kill her first.

Grant, ever the nonchalant one, broke the awkward energy in the air.

"Ah, Serena! There you are. Viola told me you'd be coming." He placed a hand on his hip as he nodded to Serena, cooling her discomfort with a smile. "I take it you intend to challenge me today as well?"

Serena shook her head.

"Not today. But would it be possible for me and Fennekin to watch the battle? If that's allowed."

"It's allowed, as long as the challenger approves of it." Grant indicated towards the trainer across from him and for the first time, Serena focused on them.

Between her and Grant stood a younger boy, no older than 12 or 13. He had straight, verdant hair and wore a shirt and vest the color green. It looked almost like a uniform. Serena would've expected such a professionally dressed person to come across as quite stuffy, but the only look she got from him was instead mellow. He looked at her and smiled.

"You're a new trainer as well then?" he asked. Serena nodded. "My name is Sawyer! I hope this will give you as much experience as it does for me!"

With that, Sawyer turned to face Grant, leaving Serena to watch. Whoever this kid was, he was confident.

"The match between the challenger Sawyer and the Gym Leader Grant will now begin! The Gym Leader will be allowed one Pokémon, while the trainer may use as many as he carries!" The referee laid down the rules of the match, prompting the trainers to send out their Pokémon. With a nod, Sawyer took the lead.

"I have just one Pokémon for now. Treecko!" With a careful toss, Sawyer brought out his partner— A green, lizard-like Pokémon Serena had never seen before. In an instant, she had her Pokédex out.

Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon. Numerous tiny spikes cover the bottoms of Treecko's feet, allowing it to walk on ceilings and walls.

"A Treecko, huh? I was right to think you aren't from Kalos then!" Grant smiled, as he pulled out his own Poké ball. "Let's see if your Pokémon can scale this challenge, then! Come on out, Onix!"

Where Sawyer's Pokémon was small and agile, Grant's was anything but. The four-ton rock serpent arrived on the field with a mighty crash, staring down Treecko with a glare as hard as stone.

Sawyer and Treecko held firm, the former gulping as they looked their opponent in the eye. There was no backing out now.

"The match may now begin!"

"Quick Attack, Treecko!" Sawyer was an aggressive battler it seemed, taking the first move without a moment's hesitation. At his command, Treecko sprinted across the battlefield, making a b-line for Onix.

"Rock Tomb." Grant was no sitting duck, however. As Treecko made leaps and bounds towards Onix, his Pokémon was summoning up a flurry of stones to launch his way.

"Dodge them, Treecko!" The rocks crashed down onto the battlefield, barely missing the nimble Treecko as he rolled and ducked and forged ahead. "Go, Quick Attack!"

With a leap and a raised fist, Treecko slammed into Onix's head, delivering a blow backed by all his might. Unfortunately, all of his might could do little more but make Onix shudder. Bouncing off Onix's head, Treecko returned to Sawyer's side, before wincing. His hand was scraped up.

Sawyer scoffed.

"They're as tough as they look. We'll just have to press our advantage!" There was a surprising confidence in the way Sawyer made that declaration, confidence Serena couldn't parse as being real or feigned. Perhaps there wasn't a difference. "Again, Treecko! Quick Attack!"

"Then we shall go again as well. Onix, Rock Tomb." With a raise of his hand, Grant sent another attack raining down on Treecko. The crashing stones shepherded him across the field, pushing him off course from his intended target— Onix's head.

It was then that Sawyer gasped.

"Quick Attack, up Onix's body!" The command surprised Serena, and put a small smile on Grant's face.

He watched as Treecko leapt, dodging Onix's Rock Tomb and sprinting up the length of his body. The writhing stone that made Onix up wasn't the most stable of platforms, but for Treecko, it was just enough.

"Toss them off, Onix."

"Not yet! Treecko, Quick Attack now!" Sawyer and Serena watched with bated breath as Treecko leapt, just as Onix attempted to throw him off. The toss sent him flying with extra momentum, momentum he carried into the white energy at his fist. In one fell swoop, Treecko crashed down on the behemoth!

But again, the behemoth barely budged.

"Finish this, Onix." With a wave, Grant called an end to the battle. Onix butted its head upwards, slamming Treecko and sending him flying. By the time he hit the ground, the battle was done.

Serena released a breath she didn't know she was holding. Despite how one-sided that match-up was, Sawyer and his Pokémon put their all into it. She could feel their intensity in her heart and the adrenaline in her veins.

"That's the kind of challenge we're up for, Fennekin. And we don't have the type advantage to help us." Serena hummed a thought as she said that, her eyes turning from Fennekin to the battlefield again. "Why didn't the type advantage help them though? Is Onix really that strong?"

"Fenn?" Fennekin harrumphed, annoyed by the prospect that she wouldn't get another showing like in Santalune.

Grant met Sawyer in the center of the field, as the young trainer was thanking Treecko for his hard work. Once he was recalled, Sawyer stood at attention.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do better against you, sir!" He belted those words out with a mechanical, practiced tone. With a bow, he continued on to more rehearsed dialogue. "I will train harder and surely do better next time!"

Grant snorted. Bowing like that was definitely not standard in Kalos. With a sturdy hand on his shoulder, Grant picked Sawyer up.

"On the contrary. I believe you did wonderfully. It's not more training that you need. At least, not the sort of training you are clearly familiar with." His words brought pause both to Sawyer, and to Serena who was listening in. "I think you just have a misunderstanding to clear up. You came here with Treecko, believing his Grass-Typing would give you an edge, yes?"

Sawyer nodded, though still seemed unsure of where this was going. Grant would soon elucidate.

"You see, while a Pokémon's type is important for a good offense, it's useless without the moves to take advantage of it," he explained, as his Onix leaned in to provide an example. "Quick Attack is a Normal-Type move, and thus Rock-Types like Onix resist it."

Grant lightly tapped against Onix's skin to make his point.

"So, despite Treecko's Grass-Typing, you're still at a disadvantage. Try teaching your Pokémon a Grass-Type move and give this wall a climb again."

Serena's eyes lit up as Grant's meaning registered in her mind. In an instant, she had her notebook out and was jotting away.

"That makes sense! For a defending Pokémon, its type matters the most. For an attacking Pokémon though, it's the attack's type that counts." Serena recalled her battles against Viola to confirm her understanding, as Fennekin watched on. "I think that means that if you learned a move that's strong against Rock-Types, we'd have the same advantage!"

"Fenn!? Fennekin— fenn!" In an instant, Fennekin was on board, as her bolstering about beating Grant seemed more possible than ever. Serena couldn't help but giggle at her newfound energy, before she poured over her notes again.

"So, the only question now is how."

Learning new moves had never exactly been an active effort as far as Serena was aware. They just seemed to appear in moments when things were particularly dire, like with Fennekin's Flamethrower. But that wasn't a plan. They couldn't just walk in and wait for the battle to go badly. And what moves could Fennekin even learn to help here? Maybe she could check her Pokédex or ask Clem—

"Heh, looks like I'm not the only one with that idea."

A voice brought Serena's train of thought to a swift derailment. In an instant she snapped up from her journal, to find Sawyer standing before her. Grant was gone, having left at some point whilst she was in her own head. It was just her and the boy now each of them holding a rather particular item.

Sawyer held a journal in which he was jotting notes.

"Oh, you've got one too?" Ready to move on past the embarrassment of her daydreaming, Serena snapped her journal tight and held it against her side. "That makes sense. You look like the note-taking type."

"I was going to say the opposite for you—" Sawyer finished his note with a flourish, before closing his journal as well. When he looked up, he found Serena's deadpanned expression waiting for him. The gaffe he made was instantly clear. "Uh— Which is intriguing! What's motivated you to be so, um, studious?"

"Should I feel flattered or even more insulted?" Muttering, Serena let the little faux pas pass, before she put on a smile. "I'm sort of... playing catch up. I have a lot to learn, and not as much time as I would like. This helps keep my thoughts in order!"

"Oh? And what thoughts did you get from my battle! Perhaps we could exchange notes?" In an instant, Sawyer had his journal open again, a bright twinkle to his eye. Whoever this kid was, he was passionate.

Serena liked that. If she had more of an ego, she'd say he reminded her of herself.

"Nothing you wouldn't have gotten down, I think!" Opening up, Serena thumbed through her notes, glancing across the half-page she had just written. "Just that we have a lot of training ahead of us for this one."

"Fenn!? Fennekin..." Fennekin's head slumped, as she realized what that meant— She wouldn't get to take a shot at Grant today, or any day soon. Her fortune? More dirty training.

"Well, it looks like we're on the same page then, in more ways than one. Guess we'll just have to see who can put their training into practice first." Sawyer closed his journal one last time, bearing a smile that carried more than a polite look. There was a challenge in his words, one left unsaid, but heard all the same. "For now, I'm off! After Treecko rests up, we're going to see if we can teach him a Grass-Type move!"

Serena smiled.

"Yeah, I think me and Fennekin are going to do the same. We're going to learn a Grass-Type move too!"

A moment of stilted quiet took the two, as Sawyer blinked and Serena grinned. Then, with an awkward inflection, Sawyer replied.

"You, may have an issue trying that."

𝒴

"How was I supposed to know Fire-Types can't learn Grass-Type moves!?"

"Nekkin, fenn."

After their business at the Cyllage City Gym had wrapped up, Serena and Fennekin headed back to town, ready and energized to reflect on what they had learned— Well, mostly. For now, Serena was chagrining how dumb she had looked in front of Sawyer.

"Yeah, yeah, keep up the sarcasm, that ought to make me feel better." Serena harrumphed, crossing her arms before turning onto the road leading back to the Pokémon Center. After a minute of silent walking, she sighed and looked back. "Sorry. I shouldn't get caught up in that. We should focus on what we're going to do next!"

"Fenn!" Smiling, Fennekin put a little skip into her step, before she skipped ahead and began talking. She already had a plan. "Kin, fenn. Fennekiiiin, nekin!"

Serena seemed unmoved.

"Sorry girl. I don't think there's any chance you're gonna be able to handle Grant on your own. At least not with your current moveset." Serena's swift rejection of Fennekin's surely flawless strategy tripped the fox Pokémon up, as she watched Serena step ahead, her journal already in hand. "Maybe you could learn a Ground-Type move, or a Fighting-Type. Oh! Or maybe a Stee—"

Serena came to a stop, when something caught her eye.

"Fenne?"

"I'm fine it's just— Is that a Pokémon?" About twenty paces ahead of them, a lone Pokémon laid in the middle of the road— An Eevee, she quickly realized. Serena's heart panged, before she quickly stowed away her journal. "I think something's wrong. Let's go."

With their previous discussion lost to the wind, Serena rushed ahead to the fallen Pokémon, Fennekin begrudgingly following along.

"Are you alright? Do you need help?" At her word, the Eevee's head snapped up, her bright, chestnut-colored eyes meeting Serena's in an instant. There was an intense sadness to the way she looked, the way her gaze held onto Serena so needily. It was like she was crying out in need of help, and Serena was the only one who could do it.

"Ee...vee?"

Serena's heart broke. She was charmed.

"You poor, poor thing!" Without pause, Serena scooped the Eevee off the ground, surprising Fennekin with her forwardness. "What do you say we get you off of this road? Maybe we could take you to the Pokémon Center, and you can—"

"Bon sang alors! Mais il est où, cette menacemaudite?!" A pitched scream rang through the air, as Serena flinched and the Eevee went stiff in her arms.

"Huh? Who was that?"

"Fenn!" Fennekin spotted him before Serena did, the man who had just screamed. Whipping around, Serena found who Fennekin was indicating towards.

Storming across the road, barreling past passersby and cutting through traffic, was an old man Serena could only describe as curmudgeonly. He wore a stuffy, plaid suit with an ill-matching tie and a garish-looking bowler hat. There wasn't a hint of kindness in his eyes, just anger and entitlement.

"There you are!"

When the man locked his eyes on Serena, the Eevee bolted out of her arms.

"Wait, where are you—!" It was too late. When Serena turned, the Eevee was already sprinting away as fast as she could. Serena wanted to follow her, but first, she needed answers. "What was that about, you jerk!"

"Yes, run! Run away you, you salaud! Dégager avant de ruiner ma vie